Tangled in This Web
by GoodGirlzDead
Summary: Rikki yet again finds herself dragged along for the ride in her brother's newest quest in life. Brian has been taking care of her since she was 16, with this move she had to figure out who she is in a place unfamiliar to her. Full summery inside. JesseOC
1. Chapter 1

Tangled in This Web – A Fast and the Furious Fan-fiction

Summery: _I do no body's bitch work…_ Rikki yet again finds herself being dragged along for the ride as her brother, Brian O'Conner, pursues his career as a police officer. He doesn't like to let her out of his site, an old habit he has from watching her since she was sixteen, now at the age of nineteen he still treats her the same. Nineteen is the age where you take a look inside yourself and discover who you really are. Can Rikki do this while having Brian and his superiors constantly tugging at her to do what they want? Or will she fight tooth and nail and become the woman she was born to be?

Disclaimer: I am not the original creator of the movie 'Fast and the Furious'. I do not own any familiar characters or places you may find in this story. No prophet is being made by posting this story, if there were I wouldn't be posting it here.

Chapter One

"Brian, what's going on?" the almost nineteen year old asked as she walked through the door of the apartment she shared with her brother. She had just gotten back from the post office to find him going through the apartment, throwing things into boxes. "Are you moving out?"

Brian shook his head. "New assignment," he answered and paused his mad packing. "They finally put me out in under cover work, isn't that great Rik?" he asked in excitement. He had wanted this for ages, praying they would accept his file.

Rikki, or as her brother called her, Rik launched herself at her brother in a hug. He spun her around and laughed in their excitement. "That's great Brian!" she exclaimed as he sat her down. "Where are you going?"

"We," he told her, putting an extra emphasis on the 'we', "Are going to L.A."

"Whoa back up," Rikki stated and took a step back to get a good look at her brother. "What do you mean 'we'?" she asked. "I can't go."

Brian shook his head. "Of course you can and you are. I can't do this without you Rik."

"Don't hand me that," Rikki warned. "You go out on the streets find and dandy on your own. You're a big boy you can do this too."

"You can't mean that Rik. You don't have to do anything anyway. Just being there is good enough. We're family we stick together."

Rikki rolled her eyes. Try telling that one to their parents. Once Brian had graduated high school their parents had started neglecting their duties as parents. "I have school to think about Bri," she started but apparently Brian had already thought of that.

"There's still UCLA, didn't you apply there?" he asked.

Rikki shook her head. "I wasn't accepted there…" she wasn't given time to finish.

"Then you can come, what's the point of staying here on your own anyway?"

Rikki sighed. There was no point in arguing with him when Brian got like this. If he was set on his ways then he would get what he wanted.

"Are you at least taking time out to celebrate?"

Brian smiled. "Wanna head out for supper?"

Rikki looked at him skeptically, "Who's buying?"

Brian laughed. They were right back to where they normally were. "My treat," he told her and took out his car keys. Things would be great in L.A. She would see that when they got there.

XxXxX

"Brian you asshole," Rikki shouted and slammed her fist on the bathroom door. They had only been in L.A. for a week and he already had started up annoying habits… More of them then she remembered he had at any rate.

It was six o'clock in the morning and Rikki had yet to get ready for work. Brian at first had been a little iffy on the subject, not wanting to let her out of site. But she quickly reminded him that she couldn't just sit around at Harry's Auto Parts shop all day. She needed something to do and she was useless when it came to cars and their innards.

"I'll be out in a minute, keep your pants on," Brian shouted back. He had been doing this purposely to her ever since he found out she had gotten the job at a restaurant down the street. So far his attempts to make her late and therefore fired hadn't been all too successful.

Rikki banged on the door again with her fist. "I mean it Brian, I was lucky to get this job as it is. I don't wanna be late, hurry up!"

Brian opened the door with a smile on his face and his hair still went from his hour long shower. "All yours," he informed her and went to his room.

Rikki slammed the door behind her and turned on the shower water. There had best be hot water left or she was going to charged with murder one…

Eventually the end of the week came and Rikki couldn't be happier. She had never enjoyed working in restaurants and Friday was her least favorite day to work. It always seemed the busiest and she always received the morning shift.

Unlocking the apartment door, Rikki was greeted with the site of Brian running around like a chicken with his head cut off looking for something.

"What did you lose this time?" she asked blandly, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Brian paused long enough to send a weak glare in her direction before beginning his search again. "I can't find the damned car keys. I know I had them in the living room earlier…"

"Before or after you got up from the TV to make a snack?" Rikki asked as she walked into the kitchen.

What's it matter?" Brian called back as he tore the couch cushions off the couch.

Rolling her eyes Rikki repeated her question. "Common Bri, you don't have all night."

"Before," Brian answered and moved on to search the entertainment unit…Or what little of one there was.

Rikki opened the snack cupboard and smiled. "What do they look like?" Might as well get pay back from this morning.

"Uh, they have my Atlanta City key chain on them… There're only two keys on the ring."

Rikki nodded her head, the smile still on her face. After years of living with him and his father, her step-father, she knew his old habits front and back. "Haven't seen them," she called back to him and pocketed the keys after taking a pop-tart out for herself.

Brian sat up straight. Something was off, "Rikki," he said to catch her attention. Normally she would help him find them. She must have already found them, "My keys."

Trying not to laugh she took the keys out of her pocket and threw them over to him. "So what, you have a hot date tonight or something?" she asked.

Brian shook his head. "I have to deliver some parts for Harry. I thought I would go out for some lunch on my way back to the store, wanna come for the ride?"

Rikki shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, but I already ate."

"Doesn't matter, last one to the truck has to pay for gas."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's the second chapter. Once I have these all re-written and posted then I will start posting on tuesdays only. I hope you guys like this one. It's written basically on the same lines as the other one but there are definate changes to it, so you had best check it out. Please review and tell me what you think. If you have any suggestions for this story I am open to them. Include them in the review. All points of view on this story are welcome, flame or not.  
-Toni

* * *

Chapter Two

On the way to where ever it was Brian was taking her, Rikki threw on HIM's 'And Love Said No,' album and they talked over the music. Occasionally Brian would roll his eyes at a certain song and Rikki would stick her tongue out in return. He never did like his half-sister's taste in music.

"Seriously Brian, HIM has to be one of the best bands out there, how can you say they're over rated?" Rikki demanded as they were stopped at a red light.

Brian laughed at how easily she was riled up. "Easy, fans go on and on about their music saying how great it is. They make it seem like they're the next…I dunno, Beatles or something. Then you actually hear their music and they suck."

Rikki rolled her eyes, "This coming from the DMX fan. Honestly, most hip hop will sacrifice a good song just to make it rhyme. I mean what the fuck?"

"They don't do that…"

"Oh and another thing, every time you turn around there's a song degrading woman, making them symbolize some sort of play thing for guys. Women have brains too you know, we're not mean to be used as some sick sex symbol."

Brian rolled his eyes. Once you got Rikki going on things like this it was hard to get her to stop. "Not all of hip hop has that to it though. What are you complaining about anyway, once you get out on the dance floor I know you stop caring about the lyrics and just go with the beat."

"That's another thing!" Rikki exclaimed as the light turned green. "No one bothers to take the time to listen to the lyrics and find meaning behind them. Before I do that I at least know what the song is talking about in the first place. Plus if I think the song's message to little girls, no Brian you can't convince me little kids aren't listening to that shit, I'm not out there dancing."

"Alright, I'm sorry I brought this up," Brain said giving up. Sometimes there was just no winning with Rik.

Rikki stuck her tongue out. "How long until we get there," she asked, starting a new subject. "I'm almost hungry again."

"A couple more minutes I promise. I hate this LA traffic."

Rikki couldn't help but nod her agreement. "Seriously, doesn't anyone work anymore?"

Brian laughed and turned on his right signal light. "Here we go, Rik. We can feed that growing stomach of yours."

"Are you saying I'm getting fat?" Rikki demanded jokingly. She knew he was only joking. She had been living with him since her mother married her father when she was nine. After ten years you learn how to live with someone.

"Toretto's," Rikki asked as Brian pulled in. "Is this place any good?"

Brian nodded. "Best tuna sandwiches in town."

"Liar, tuna tastes like shit, no matter who makes it," Rikki accused.

"I like tuna," Brian responded simply and got out of the truck.

Rikki shook her head. "You and fucking tuna sandwiches I just don't get it."

Brian laughed and held the door open for her. "Shit…" he said randomly causing Rikki to send him an odd look.

"What?"

"I think I forgot my wallet in the truck, go check?" he asked.

"Yea right," Rikki said disbelievingly. "I saw that look you shot the girl behind the counter as you held the door open."

"What look?" Brian asked innocently with a slight smirk. Damn his sister for knowing him so well…

"Whatever, I'll go take a look. Ten to one says it's in your pocket."

With that Rikki walked out the door, glancing back when she got to the truck she saw Brian working his magic on the poor girl who worked there. She didn't stand a chance. Brian's 'I'm-a-good-guy' charm had people trusting him almost as soon as they met him.

Digging around through the stuff in truck Rikki was laying on the seat as she checked underneath it, might as well give the guy a few minutes to entertain him. If he hooked up with her that would mean he would get off Rikki's back.

At the sound of supped up cars pulling in Rikki jumped and fell off the seat onto the floor. Stupid punks coming up on her when she was in her own little world… Didn't they have the decency to show up when wanted?

Rikki supposed she was being a bit harsh. She had hit her elbow on the dashboard. There was no reason to take her pain and stupidity out on innocent people.

Taking a look to see who owned the cars that interrupted her thought patterns Rikki's jaw dropped. "Damn, is that a Skyline?" She had fallen in love with the Japanese car ever since she had laid eyes on one. If she ever had the money to own one she knew exactly how she wanted hers. "Too bad the guy has it painted yellow, uck," she commented to herself. To her, yellow just didn't seem to belong on any car but a Beatle…Even then.

Rikki couldn't take her eyes off the group of four cars as three guys and one girl stepped out. "You go girl," Rikki couldn't help but say aloud to herself. She looked like a dominate one that could survive in a "man's world". She didn't doubt that girl could take one of those guys if she were pissed off.

"Talk to me Jesse, this ain't workin brother," one of them commented as they stepped out of the car, the red Nissan Maxima Rikki noted. Still good taste, but not the car meant for her.

"It's your fuse, man…" the one called Jesse said as he stepped around the front of his Jetta.

Rikki giggled at the sight Jesse made. He had to be about her age and he was a great deal smaller then the other two men there with him.

"Oh shit…" the one who owned the Maxima said and directed Jesse's gaze away from the car and towards Toretto's where Brian was talking to the girl behind the counter. What did this guy have against Brian? "That guy's been here every day this week ordering the same damn thing."

"Nah," the one who had stepped out of the yellow Nissan Skyline commented. "He's not here for the food bro…"

Rikki rolled her eyes. Well she could have told them that.

Maxima guy glanced back at his friend, to the truck Rikki was currently in then back to Toretto's… And inside he went.

"Crap," Rikki couldn't help but think as she wiggled herself into a standing position. After fixing her shirt she slammed the door to the truck shut and raced inside. This couldn't be good.

As she walked in Rikki noted where everyone was. Jesse and the one who owned the Skyline were over by the rack of sunglasses while the one who owned the Maxima sat down beside Brian.

"He is beautiful," Jesse commented while looking through a pair of sunglasses.

"I like his hair colour," the other commented.

Rikki smirked. Brian had always hated his brown hair so he usually had it dyed to add the blonde in. "Don't let him fool you," she said as she marched up with a bag of her own chips. "It's not natural."

Rikki watched as Brian paid, she knew he had his wallet, and walked out the door.

"Vince," the girl at the counter, called Mia earlier, warned as Maxima guy glance between Brian and Mia before standing up and following Brian out.

Rikki shook her head and took out a five. "Can I also have a can of Coke to go? It looks like Brian's gonna need to be escorted to the hospital soon."

"You know each other?" Mia asked as she handed Rikki the Coke and change.

Rikki nodded her head. "Older brothers are a drag don't you think?" she asked rhetorically. Rikki walked out of Toretto's with her chips and Coke in hand. "Would you two knock it off?" she spat out at the two. As she had stepped out the door Vince had pushed Brian into the side of the truck. "You're acting like a bunch of girls, bitch fighting over wearing the same shirt for Christ sakes."

Vince glared at her but said to Brian, "You'd better keep your bitch on a leash faggot, where we come from we keep whores like her in their place."

That had set Brian off edge and he attacked Vince back. Rikki moved to step forward but someone held her back. "Whoa there, Dom's got it handle Spitfire." She vaguely remembered the voice belonged to Jesse.

She had turned around to ask who Dom was when a big guy walked out of Toretto's and headed straight for the brawling pair. He pulled the two apart and pushed Brian back into the truck.

Brian held up his hand to show he was done now that there were two guys getting involved. "Hey man, he was getting in my face."

"Now I'm in your face," Dom said back. "Jesse wallet," he held out his hand waiting for the object he was talking about.

Jesse let go of Rikki to get the item in question. Picking it up off the ground he handed to it Dom.

"Brian Earl Spillner," the new guy read aloud. "Sounds like a serial killer name, is that who you are?"

Brian shook his head trying to catch his breath. "No," he answered simply trying to save his breath.

Dom shot Brian a look then handed back the wallet. "Don't come around here no more."

"That's bullshit," Rikki exclaimed to her brother's defense. "He was the one who went after Brian, not to mention the fact the bitch felt the need to come after me."

"You better keep you boy in check then, or I'll let Vince hand him his ass."

Rikki glared back. "That's still bullshit." Brian shook his head, silently trying to tell her to back down but she didn't listen. "And what, a girl can't hang out with a guy without someone thinking she's screwing him? I don't know about you, but I'm not into incest thanks."

"You got a name kid?" one of the others called out. He was the only one Rikki didn't have a name for.

Rikki gave him a look over before giving her name.

"Keep him in check," Dom repeated before heading back inside, taking the rest of the people there with him. Rikki shook her head.

"I told you to shut up," Brian said as they got into the car.

Rikki shrugged. "You have my back I have yours. Like I said, that guy went after you not the other way around."

Brain gave her a look of thanks before pulling away from Toretto's. Who would have thought that today would end up like it had?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A/n: You guys aren't going to believe this – or at least those who read the original to this – I found my written copy…I know, about time right? Holy cow was it ever bad…Well, I thought it was. I'm not sure if I can say this one is any better but I hope it is. Um, yea…That's all I wanted to say. : )

Brian took Rikki back to Harry's with him since he didn't have the time to take her back to the apartment. He set her up in the back with an old engine for her to fiddle around with. Rikki had shrugged at him and went to work on it. It wasn't like she could put it in any worse condition then it already was.

"Seriously Brian, they're my best customers. They pay in cash and never miss a payment…"

Rikki's head perked up as she heard Harry speaking. Dom must have called about the incident. She laughed as the thought of it. The FBI had to fight to get Brian this job it would make her day complete if Harry was forced to fire him. The thought may have been mean, but Brian could handle it. Wiping her hands off on her jeans she moved to see what was happening in the front. Not many customers were in at the moment. She could see Brian walking around the store with Harry behind him giving his lecture.

When Harry finished Brian spoke. "I'm gonna need two of these. The big ones," he said and spun around, "For tonight."

Rikki knew what that meant. She knew there had to be a reason for the police to place him here. He was going undercover for the street races. But what could a couple of street racers seriously get into? All they cared about were 'pimping out' their rides and getting as much sex as they could.

That night as Brian was getting ready to leave Rikki leaned against the doorway of his room. "Got a hot date or something?" she asked him casually.

Brian shook his head. "Just going to see what people here do for fun," he answered just as casually.

Rikki raised an eyebrow. "Really," she asked with polite interest. "I've heard a few of the guys from work talking about this thing that happens every weekend. Apparently, street races are a big thing here."

Brian looked up at his sister. "No way in hell," he told her. He knew where this was going. She wanted to come with him.

"Oh come on Brian it'll be fun. You can't lock me up in this apartment the whole time we're in LA. I mean, I had to fight you in order to get me a job. Even then you tried to get me fired from it – don't deny it. Just one night of fun won't hurt."

Brian shook his head. "I'm not taking you out to meet these people. They're dangerous Rik, there's not telling what they'd do to you."

"Fine then," Rikki said back. "I'll just stay here in this shitty apartment all alone where there's no telling what kind of freak that lived here will come barging in here. Which would you rather: me being around you so you can 'protect me' from the freaks or me being alone where there's no telling what they'll do to me."

Brian shook his head again. "I mean it Rik, you're staying here. There's no way in hell you're coming with me."

Five minutes later Rikki was dressed and ready to go. Brian raised an eyebrow at what she was wearing but didn't say anything. He only opened the door and let her walk out ahead of him. He hated it when Rikki wanted something. Somehow she always seemed to get her way.

"You're a fucking bitch you know that?" Brian asked his sister as they stopped at the meeting place for the races that night.

Rikki nodded her head. "Just remember what I told you about your shifting. You aren't used to driving a standard."

"What and you are?"

Rikki rolled her eyes. "Brian my favorite car is a 1967 Mustang, and in case you forgot I have one back home. Of course I am."

"Just shut up already," Brian complained as they got out of the car.

Rikki shrugged, "Just trying to warn ya."

Getting tired of just standing around and waiting for something to happen, while Brian wasn't looking Rikki slowly stepped away from the car. She needed to do some walking around or she might go crazy.

"What's a snow white like you doing out playing with the big boys?" a voice called out to Rikki as she walked by.

Stopping in her tracks Rikki turned around to face the person who had been trying to get her attention. He was about a foot taller then her, dark brown hair and light brown eyes. Maybe Rikki would have thought he was cute, if he hadn't opened his mouth.

"What's a little boy like you doing out playing with the big boys," Rikki mocked back. "Ain't it a little past your bed time?" He couldn't have been much older then she was.

"Oh-ho, look at this, we've got ourselves a little firecracker," he laughed back. "That's okay, I like a challenge."

Rikki was about to reply when she heard the roar of engines approaching. "Looks like you challenge has just arrived. Better get back to your car baby boy, wouldn't want to see you cry after you get your ass handed to you."

With that said Rikki turned around to find Brian. The crowd seemed to be going in the same direction so she went with the flow. When they stopped Rikki shook her head at the sight in front of her. Brian was standing in front of Dom with his pink slip in hand.

"Jesus Christ Bri, can't a leave you alone for five little minutes?" Rikki asked jokingly as she went to stand beside her brother.

Dom looked to Rikki. "Didn't I tell you to keep your man in check?"

Rikki raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I tell you he's not my man?" she asked back.

"So what's the stakes?" another guy asked impatient to get things started.

Dom held up his offering. "Four cars, two g buy in," he said back getting straight to the point. "Give your money to Hector."

Apparently Hector was the one who was eager to start. "Why Hector?" an Asian guy asked as he handed over his money.

Another guy stepped up. "Cause he's too slow to make away with the money," he responded and handed over his share.

Brian stepped forward. "I don't have any money, but I do have the pink slip to my car."

Jesse stepped up. "Whoa you can't just step into the ring with Ali 'cause you think you can box."

Brian pointed at the guy he had been fighting with earlier. "He knows I can box. Look whoever wins takes my car plain and simple but if I win I get the money and the respect."

The people standing around them laughed a bit and Rikki gave Brian a weird look. Where the hell had that come from? "Respect," someone repeated as if reading her mind.

Brian glanced at what his sister was wearing. "To some that's more important."

Rikki rolled her eyes. Clearly he hadn't seen what the other girls here had been wearing. She was at least in a beater that covered most of her skin and pants that weren't so tight you could see everything she had to offer. So the shirt went a little low and brushed the top of her pants, at least she could say she was clothed.

"Is that your car?" Dom asked, nodding towards the neon green Mitsubishi Eclipse. When Brian nodded his head in return Dom spoke again. "Well, pop the hood."

Everyone circled Brian's car while Jesse went to see what he was running. "We've got…"

Dom listened as Jesse listed off what all Brian had, had put in his car. He watched as the two siblings argued in hushed voices.

"There's no way you're gonna win Brian. You know as well as I do you don't drive a standard half as well as these people do."

Brian glared at his sister. "That's not the point alright. Just shut up for five seconds and I'll explain everything later."

"We can achieve the same outcome if you let me drive," Rikki tried. Sure she had never used any NOS before when driving, but she could at least get them across the finish line in one piece.

"Trust me on this one Rik. I know what I'm doing."

Rikki shook her head. Fine, if he wanted to get blown up she'd let him.

"Not a bad way to spend ten grand," Dom commented, his eyes hadn't left either Rikki or Brian.

Brian crossed his arms and smirked smugly. "So am I worthy?"

Dom gave a smirk of his own. "We don't know yet, but you're in."

Jesse put the hood down and grabbed Rikki's wrist. "C'mon Spitfire, you can ride with me."

Rikki glanced back at Brian and he nodded his head. If he didn't see her later he at least knew who she was with so he could report him.

Rikki turned her attention back to Jesse and tried to keep up with him as he weaved his way through the crowd of people.

"Ever been to one of these before?" he asked her as they climbed into his Jetta.

Rikki nodded her head. "Not here though, we were in Miami."

"At least we know Spillner can drive then," Jesse commented glancing at her before turning his attention back to the road.

Rikki laughed. "Brian? No way, he's never done something like this on this kind of scale. Back home maybe once upon a time, it's not as big there as it is here. A few of my girls and I went to Miami after we graduated high school."

Jesse nodded his head. "How do they run it out there?"

"They do circuits man, it's awesome," she commented in awe on what she had seen. The blur of colours as the cars sped past. "Drifting is the coolest feeling out there."

Jesse shook his head. "We don't run it that way here. We do the quarter mile run."

Rikki nodded her head. "Either way it's bound to be beautiful." She had always been fascinated by cars and their engines. However her father and Brian, especially her father, never really shared that love with her. She was a girl after all. They aren't supposed to like the same things guys do. That was when she had been really young. Their reaction then had stopped her from getting to into the subject.

Jesse smiled and glanced back at the girl in his passenger seat. Yep, this girl might just be a good time after all.

"We'll be at the finish line," Jesse informed her. "It's easier then having to fight our way there once the race is finished.

Rikki nodded her head in understanding, "Sounds good to me."

Getting out of the Jetta Rikki watched as two girls spray painted the pavement marking the finish line. Looking down towards the end Rikki could faintly see the four cars lined up at the starting line and smiled. This was something she didn't want to miss.

"Makes me wish for an SLR," Rikki thought to herself and turned to face Jesse.

"How much longer 'til we start?" she asked.

Vince, who she hadn't even notice approach them, spoke for Jesse. "As soon as Leon gives the all clear," he told her. "I thought you had been to one of these before."

Rikki shrugged, "It's been what, two years since I graduated high school give me a break…Wait, how did you know?"

Vince smiled and nodded in the direction of a very excited Jesse. "When he gets like this he likes to talk."

Rikki nodded. 'Memo to self: Don't tell him Brian's a cop.'

"I've always had a bad memory. Mum always said I got it from my dad."

"Aren't you and Brian brother and sister?" Jesse asked in confusion. Whoa, he managed to clue back in, Vince was impressed.

Rikki shook her head. "His father married my mother when I was ten."

"Sh," Jessie exclaimed suddenly and jumped. "It's about to start!"

Rikki squinted down to the starting line and could see someone standing in the middle notifying the racers things were ready to go.

Rikki rocked on her toes. "You're friend's about to win another car."

Vince and Jesse laughed at Rikki's comment. They didn't need her to tell them that.

Rikki gasped when she saw the cars jump forward, the drivers unleashing all the power they had in order to reach the finish line first. Rikki laughed as Brian pulled ahead of Dom's Mazda RX-7 and shook her head as Dom let loose his NOS and crossed the finish line before him.

Brian had troubles stopping his car and Rikki shook her head. What had Brian done now? She, along with everyone else has watched as sparks came out his tale end.

As he drove back to the finish line, Jesse gripped Rikki's wrist again and dragged her over to the damaged car.

"Have fun?" he asked a smiling Brian. Jesse let go of Rikki's wrist to pop the hood to inspect the engine. As he did smoke escaped and Rikki hit Brian.

"You terd," was all Rikki could thing of. Brian ignored her though, still buzzed off the adrenaline rush.

Dom watched the exchange and couldn't help but ask, "What are you smiling about?"

Brian shook his head in amazement. "Dude, I almost had you."

The people around them snickered and talked among themselves. Oh how they anticipated the talking to Brian was about to get.

Rikki looked from Brian to Jesse with her eyebrows raised as if to ask for confirmation as to what Brian had said. At Dom's amused smile Rikki knew she had heard right.

"You almost had me?" Dom asked with the amused smile still on his face. "You never had me – you never had your car! You shouldda listened to your girl, she would-of given me a better run! Granny shifting," –"What did I tell you?" Rikki asked and stumbled when Brian pushed her – "Not double clutchin' like you should. You're lucky that hundred shot of NOS didn't blow the welds on the intake! You almost had me? Now me and the mad scientist here, have to rip apart the block...and replace the piston rings you fried. Ask any racer. Any real racer – it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning's winning."

Rikki glared and had been about to say something when she was interrupted by the sound of someone calling from a Nextel, "Shit we got cops, cops, cops, cops!"

Jesse pulled the hood down in place and grabbed Rikki's arm. "We gotta go," he told her over the noise.

Rikki shook her head and kept her feet firmly planted. "Someone's gotta save Bri's ass."

Jesse looked around and nodded before kissing her cheek. "See ya 'round Spitfire."

Rikki turned and headed for the car. "Bri get in, I'm driving," she informed her older brother while opening the driver's side door.

"We don't have to…"

"You want these people knowing who ya are fine, your funeral," she told him.

Brian paused long enough to watch as more LAPD show up then got in the car beside his sister.

As soon as her brother had closed the passenger's door she stepped down on the clutch and put the car in gear. Stepping on the gas and releasing the clutch Rikki sped away hoping the adrenaline wouldn't be too much for her to handle.

Turning down an alleyway Brian spotted Dom walking and cops were starting to block his way.

"Shit we gotta pick up Dom," Brian said and pointed across Rikki's field of view.

"Brian," she warned not wanting to have to stop the car.

"Just do it Rik!"

Rikki sighed and muttered to herself, "You better fucking love me," and headed closer to the man in question. "Get in the back so we can let him in."

Brian nodded and did as he was told and Rikki pulled to a stop along side Dom so that the passenger's side was facing him causing Brian to fall over.

"Get in!" she called to him and looked along side her. The cops were right behind them.

Dom saw this and got into the car without questions. Again putting the car in gear Rikki sped off in the opposite direction of the cops. "We better get away Bri or so help me…"

Rikki made a left, a right, then another left not soon after.

"Where the hell did you learn to drive?" Dom demanded as they sped through the streets.

Rikki glanced at Dom, smirking, before turning her attention back to the road. "Technically I'm not supposed to be driving."

Dom, who had Jesse look up Rikki and Brian's records, already knew that her license had been suspended for a number of reckless driving incidents and a DUI so he didn't ask.

Looking behind him a few minutes later Dom noted that they had lost the cops that had been chasing after them. "You really should have let her drive," he commented and turned back around.

Brian had been about to respond when the sound of motorcycles filled the night air. Rikki looked in the rear view mirror and swore quietly to herself. Wasn't there anyone in this town who didn't want to follow Dominic Toretto?

A tap came on the driver's side window and Rikki glanced over. The maniac had a gun on him!

"Follow us," was yelled over the noise to her and she glanced at Dom.

He swore aloud and looked at their surroundings. "Follow 'em," he told her.

Rikki nodded her head to the guy outside her window to let them know she was going to co-operate. Either way the guy had a gun, what really was the use in fighting?

"Something tells me we're in for a long night," Rikki commented as she followed the bikes into an empty lot. This was not going to be good.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I can't even remember the last time I updated that's how bad it is. Those who read this story should have threatened to kill me! I would have. I've had this written for a while but Mum took away my internet cause I missed school one day. For a whole week I was without internet!  
I know that's no excuse, but meh, I'm allowed to complain since you guys won't...though thanks to my 12 reviewers. I love you all so much for it. This is for you, all 1678 words of it  
Here we go...

* * *

When they pulled up to the place the guys on motorbikes wanted them Rikki reluctantly got out of the car. She didn't think this was one of the places she would ever want to be.

"Toretto, didn't I tell you not to come around here?"

Dom tried to laugh the situation off, but it seemed as if there was bad blood between the two. Personally, Rikki wanted to stay out of it. Her fault really, for driving into this part of town, but how was she to know?

"This car yours?" the guy asked, bringing Rikki back to the conversation at hand. She really needed to stop going off into her own little world.

Dom shook his head. "It's his car."

Brian opened his mouth. "Naw man, it's your car, you won it fair and square."

Rikki's eyes hadn't left the group of people surrounding them, only slightly paying attention to the argument between Dom and Brian. She didn't trust these people as far as she could throw one of them.

"Well then," a new voice spoke, "I guess we have a car that belongs to no body. Unless the car is yours sweetheart," he said bringing attention to the silent Rikki.

Rikki glared at being called 'sweetheart' but only said, "It's not my colour."

"Well there it is," the guy concluded. "We have a car that belongs to no body. Such a shame to waste such a beautiful piece of machinery doesn't it Lance?"

Now another spoke, he looked related to the first guy who had spoken. "Yes, it does," he replied eyes on Rikki and not on the car.

The first guy smiled then turned back to Dom. "I thought we had a deal Toretto," he said seriously. "You're on my territory now."

'Great', Rikki thought sarcastically to herself. 'We've landed ourselves in with a pack of wolves. Let's see you get us out of this one Bri.'

Dom shrugged casually. "We got lost, the girl's new in town," he stated as if it explained everything. And in a sense it did. Rikki had no idea where she was going. She only had one thing on her mind: Getting away from the cops.

Attention was yet again brought to Rikki as they looked her over. She smiled sheepishly. "Everything looks the same to me…" she explained.

A smile was yet again brought back to the first guy's face. "Don't let it happen again Toretto. I don't wanna see you around here no more."

With that said the group set themselves up to leave. When they were gone Brian asked,

"What the hell was that?"

Dom shook his head, hardly able to believe they had been let off that easily. Maybe they had a soft spot for Rikki, if that were the case he'd have to look into keeping the girl around. "I'll explain it later. Get in, I'll drive this time."

Rikki tossed Dom the keys and moved around to the other side of the car. "You're still in the back Bri, so move your ass."

Brian rolled his eyes though got into the back seat without argument. He wanted to hear Dom's story and the sooner they got moving the sooner he would be able to do so. He stopped however, when he heard the sound of the motorcycles coming back their way.

"I thought this was settled," Rikki said in confusion as they saw the bikes reappear. When they did they came to a full stop in front of the car and opened fire with their automatic weapons.

As Rikki ducked down behind the passenger side door she mentally cursed Brian, wondering what the hell he had just gotten them into.

After the moments attack upon the defenseless car ceased the people who had been sent back left. As the small group stood back up and watched them leave, as if to make sure they wouldn't come back, the car burst into flame.

"NOS," Dom yelled out to Rikki and Brian and all three ran away from the car as fast as they could before they got caught in the explosion that was sure to follow.

Rikki turned around to watch the flame. "Green is such a pretty colour when mixed with flame," Both men looked at her as if she belonged in a mental institution. "What, I'm just sayin' is all," she said in her own defense.

"Does anyone have a cell phone?"

Brain turned to Rikki, knowing he had left his at home but the girl blushed, "I think I left it in the car…"

Brian rolled his eyes then turned to Dom. "How about the story? It's a long walk back."

Dom shrugged. "There's not much to tell. There's always been bad blood between us," then he smirked, "Doesn't help that I had sex with his sister."

Rikki gave a smirk herself, knowing how Brian got whenever he thought someone wasn't good enough for his 'baby sister'. "That would put a damper on the relationship."

XxXxX

An hour or so later the three stepped out of a cab at Dom's place. They had found a pay phone and Rikki had managed to dig enough change out of her pockets. There was music playing that could be heard from the sidewalk. Both boys walked towards the house, leaving Rikki to roll her eyes and dig out her wallet to pay the driver.

"Have a nice night," the driver said cheerfully.

Rikki rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Yea, you two," as the cab drove away. Brian had better pay her back or there would be hell to pay…

"You wanna beer?" Dom asked the two as Rikki joined them. He was halfway up the stairs and had turned back to face them.

Brian looked doubtful. "We should head back home…" he said halfheartedly.

"Come on, it's the least I could do."

Rikki turned to Brian, giving him puppy dog eyes as she did so. Vary rarely could Brian turn her down when she did this. "Just one," he sighed in defeat. The world just wasn't fair. Rikki always seemed to get her way.

Rikki smiled and kissed her brother's cheek. "Remember though, you still owe me," she said and followed Dom inside the house.

"Now wait a minute," Brian said and frowned. "That's not fair…"

Dom watched as Rikki laughed and mingled in with the crowd. He had already told her to head to the kitchen where she could more then likely find something to drink. For someone who looked so young she could quickly blend in to become just another face in the crowd as if she belonged.

"Is she always like this?" Dom asked of Brian. He hadn't seen many girls who could run with just any situation that was handed to them besides Letty, but Letty was different.

Brian rolled his eyes, "Ever since high school started."

Dom nodded. "Stay here, I'll be back."

Rikki leaned against the wall, watching that party as it progressed. She had honestly only come in for the drink Dom had offered but had gotten caught up in watching the people that surrounded her; curious as to how these people interacted with one another. They all seemed so different from the people back home. Home…did that word truly have meaning anymore?

Rikki sighed and pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on. From where she was standing she could see Brian waiting for Dom to get back, and when he did he brought Mr. Happy with him from outside Toretto's, Vince she remembered was his name. Moving to walk over she was caught around the waist.

"You just go looking for trouble, don't cha Spitfire?"

Rikki couldn't help but smile to herself. "Now that's not fair," she said in protest. "Trouble usually goes looking for me," she responded and looked to the person keeping her from moving forward.

The person smiled back. "We didn't think you'd make it, never mind come rollin' up in here with Dom."

Rikki shrugged, "What can I say, I'm a survivor," she joked back. "Where's Jesse at?" Usually Jesse and Leon were seen together.

Leon shrugged and let go of Rikki. "Have you tried the kitchen yet?"

"Figured someone should keep an eye out for Brian," she replied and shook her head.

Leon nodded in Brian's direction. "Looks covered to me."

Rikki looked over as well and noted he was talking with Dom, a beer in his hand. "Then to the kitchen it is," she said back with a smile and left to do so.

It seemed Leon had led her in the right direction as she had found Jesse in the kitchen digging through the fridge for something or other, more then likely a beer.

"You digging for gold," she asked with a smile and leaned against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jesse kept digging through the fridge, "Something like that. Wanna beer?"

Rikki shrugged. "It's what I'm here for."

Jesse smiled triumphantly and stood up straight with two Coronas in his hands. "Last two in the fridge."

Rikki laughed at the smile that currently lit up Jesse's face and used the hem of her shirt to twist off the cap. "Then shouldn't you restock the fridge?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

Jesse shrugged and shut the fridge door. "Let someone else do it," he said and slung an arm around her shoulder. "When did you get here? We didn't think you'd make it."

"We got here with Dom, he invited us in for a drink or two," she said before taking a gulp form the bottle in her hand.

Jesse smiled. "Come on, there's some people I want you to meet," and with that Jesse grabbed her wrist for what had to be the hundredth time that night and dragged her into the crowd. How he was going to find anyone in this mess of people Rikki hadn't a clue, but she'd let him try. She was here for fun, and she had a funny feeling that Jesse would lead her there.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:  Chapter five, just like I promised. Chapter six is in the works as we speak…Kind of. I wrote bits and pieces of it in bio and on my spare on Friday. Hope you enjoy this, and if you do review and tell me WHY. I like hearing what I am doing right, not just that I am doing something right. Or, if you find something wrong, point it out. That's the only way to make this story better. :)

Chapter Five

Brian sighed as he entered the apartment later that night. Before he had left the Toretto residence he had tried looking for Rikki. He hadn't seen her so he assumed that she had left for home before he had. It didn't really surprise him, she had worked earlier that day, a morning shift at that, and so she had to be tired. Brian knew he was. He would worry about Rikki tomorrow. He had seen her on and off throughout the night with Jesse and she had come over a few times with him to talk to Mia, Dom's sister. The more he saw of these people the more he wasn't so sure he wanted his baby sister around them. Perhaps, bringing her with him to California hadn't been such a good idea as he had first thought.

In any case, he would have to worry about that tomorrow. In the morning the FBI was sure to call to see what all had happened that night. He wasn't looking forward to having to tell them that they would need to get him a new car. Or at least one that he could work on at the shop with Dom to get him a new car…Yes, when Brian had to talk to his superiors tomorrow he would decide what was to happen then. For now, all he wanted was a good night's sleep in his nice, warm bed.

XxXxX

Rikki laughed as she yet again crashed another car into a wall. "Man, now we know it's best for me to stick to Mario Kart."

The people around her laughed with her as Jesse, who was sitting behind her, took the controller from her hands and passed it to Leon. "How's the beer situation going?" he asked her. He had forgotten how many the two of them had, had between them. But she still looked lucid, so he guessed she hadn't reached her limit yet. She was such a small girl; maybe he had been the one to drink most of the Coronas…

Rikki held up the bottle that had been beside her and glared at the contents, or the lack there of. "Seems we're running low" she said with a pout.

Jesse laughed again at the expression on Rikki's face. "Come on then Spitfire let's see if anyone was nice enough to restock the fridge." Somehow Rikki seriously doubted that. Even sober Jesse hadn't wanted to so she sincerely doubted that a drunken person would want to do the job. "Well look at that," he said as they reached the kitchen and opened the fridge, "Two more sitting right up front for us."

Rikki stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her nose. "Take one from the back," she told him. "They're gonna be the colder ones."

Jesse grinned and kissed Rikki before doing as she had said, "I knew you were a smart one," he said and stood up straight again.

Rikki grinned back and closed the fridge for him before taking her drink from him. "One of us has to be," she replied cheekily and twisted the top off with the hem of her shirt.

Jesse glared. "You have 'til three to run."

Rikki laughed and covered the top of her beer with her thumb, getting ready to run. "I'd like to see you catch me," she challenged. "I've had less to drink then you have."

"Ah, but I have less chance of spilling my drink now don't I?" he asked back and began his counting. "One…" Rikki laughed again and gulped down some of her beer. "Two…" She covered her beer again and walked out of the kitchen. When she heard the final count of, "Three!" she ducked behind a taller person.

"I'll give you twenty bucks if you hide me from Jesse," she whispered to them and took another swig from the bottle in her hand. She looked up to see who she had hid behind. "Oh, hi…Vince was it?"

The taller person had in fact been the guy who had been so aggressive with her brother. He raised an eyebrow, Vince seemed rather calm. Maybe beer mellowed him out. "What are you hiding from the kid for?" he asked curiously.

Rikki grinned. "Let's call it our own personal game of hide-and-go-seek," she replied and peeked around Vince's much bigger form to see if she could spot Jesse in the crowd.

Vince, seeing Jesse coming up from behind her, smirked quickly to himself before resuming his previous expression. He decided to keep the girl distracted. The kid deserved a little fun after all. "Did you steel his beer or something?" he asked to keep conversation going. Conversation…that wasn't one of his strong points and inwardly he winced. This could quickly turn awkward if Jesse didn't act fast.

Rikki shook her head. "I believe we have a slight disagreement on who was more smart," she replied as she straightened to look at Vince.

"'More smart,'" Vince asked with a raised eyebrow, "I believe you've just proven Jesse the winner of your battle."

Rikki frowned and put her hands on her hips, "Now that's not fair…" she said and was about to elaborate when Jesse caught Rikki around the waist and lifted her up into the air. Rikki gave a rather high pitched squeak in shock and Vince moved forward to take her beer from her hands so there would be no form of alcohol abuse. Or that's what he told himself as her drank half of what was left in the bottle.

"Not cool," Rikki protested. "Jesse put me down, that meanie just drank my beer!"

Jesse and Vince laughed as Jesse started carrying Rikki away, "Only fair, your brother took his earlier."

Rikki pouted and tried to break out of Jesse's grip. For a small guy he was rather strong. Or was it just because Rikki was smaller then he was? "Then he should get his filthy hands off my beer and go take Bri's!"

Vince laughed and drank down the rest of the bottle then handed it to Rikki. "There, now you won't be at risk of being a rather serious case of alcohol abuse," he told her and went off in search of another beer.

"Bastard," Rikki shouted after him with a grin on her face. She loved goofing around with people like this. Being out of Brian's main focus was the best thing that could have happened in her opinion, no matter how much she loved her brother he could be a little over protective.

"Come on Spitfire," Jesse said and dragged the now more co-operative girl with him, "You're not getting off that easy."

Rikki couldn't help but protest. "That's not fair! He just drank my beer in front of me. Isn't that enough?" she demanded.

Jesse shook his head and put Rikki back down on her own two feet. "Hardly," he replied and before she could run away he pinned her down on the couch and began tickling her sides.

Rikki shrieked and laughed as he did so, she was ticklish almost everywhere on her body and was never able to 'turn her tickles off' as some people could. Life wasn't fair when you were overly sensitive.

"Stop," she gasped out of breath. Another symptom when being tickled to death: she held her breath and what little stomach muscle she had tightened up. "Need to breath," she continued when she found enough air.

Jesse sat back with a triumphant smile on his face. "I win," was all he said.

Rikki took deep breaths and when she could speak again asked. "Oh yea, so where's your beer?"

Jesse was about to answer when he frowned to think about it. "In the kitchen," he mumbled, Rikki could barely hear him over what was left of the party though caught the gist of what the boy had said.

"Loser," she said to him and lay out on the couch. "I'm not the only one who didn't get to drink my beer," she said and stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

Jesse glared playfully. "Do I have to tickle you again?" Rikki quickly stopped smiling and Jesse nodded. "That's what I thought," he said and lay down beside Rikki as they both laughed at Leon's drunken attempt to play the video game where Rikki had left off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Rikki woke up the next morning feeling slightly queasy and not in the least impressed in how the sun was shining in her eyes. Hadn't she rid her room of that nasty feature with her heavy curtains? Now her room would get all hot thanks to the LA sun, and Rikki couldn't sleep when her room was too warm for her liking.

"Fucking Brian messing with my curtains," Rikki grumbled to herself and tried to roll onto her stomach. It was then she realized that there was a weight keeping her in place. Groggily she opened her eyes and bit back a squeak. "Well that explains the sun…" she mumbled.

Apparently Rikki hadn't left the party the night before and had passed out with Jesse on the couch. Sometime during the night, Jesse had shifted in his sleep and was now lightly snoring with his head lying just below her chest and pressed up against her side.

"'Morning kid, didn't realized you stayed the night," Leon said with a smile on his face when he saw his best friend and the girl he had been hanging out with the night before.

In the back of her mind Rikki wondered how on earth the man was able to be smiling this early in the morning when he had drank more then she had the night before. "I hate morning people," was all she said.

Leon's smile didn't falter. "You might want to get up soon. Mia is already in the kitchen making breakfast and everyone else will be down in a minute." With that said, he walked away and into the kitchen.

"Leon," Rikki called after him. "Leon you son of a bitch get your ass back here."

Laying her head back onto the arm of the couch Rikki frowned at the ceiling. All men were the same: annoying, little pricks. That's all there was to it. Why did she even bother with them anyway? They were all a pain in the ass. She looked back down to the one keeping her on the couch and stopped frowning. She had her answer: Cause some of them were just too damn cute for their own good that's why.

Rikki looked to the end of the couch when she heard foot steps on the stairs. Someone else was awake. Seeing who it was as they reached the edge of the stairs she knew it to be Dom's girlfriend Letty. Rikki had met her the last night though hadn't had much of a chance to talk to her. She took a chance when Letty saw her.

"You mind giving me a hand?" Rikki asked kind of timidly. She didn't want to wake Jesse and she didn't know this woman all too well.

Letty gave a confused look and walked over. "I thought you left with your brother," she said quietly.

Rikki gave a half attempt at a shrug. "I guess I passed out watching whatever was on the TV."

Letty nodded her understanding and lifted Jesse's head off of Rikki so she could slide out from under him. "Lucky for you he's a heavy sleeper. Dom would have woken up the moment I was out of bed."

As soon as she had said this, Dom came down the stairs, mumbled a 'good morning' at the two of them before doing a double take. "Isn't it a little early for house calls?" he asked.

Letty answered him. "Well aren't you just a regular ball of sunshine this morning."

"I thought it was brighter in here," Rikki said back and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "No more sleeping on couches."

Dom looked from Rikki to Jesse who was still asleep on the couch then shrugged to himself and made his way into the kitchen. "I need a coffee."

Letty offered a small smile to the girl. Generally she would have acted a little colder towards the girls the men in this house slept with, but it had been obvious Rikki and Jesse hadn't done anything but sleep on the couch, which was a rarity in this house.

"Want something to eat," she asked, "Or a coffee maybe? You look like you could use one."

Rikki shook her head. "Thanks, but I don't think that my stomach would like me for that if I did. I'm not much of a morning person."

Letty nodded her head. "Vince is the same way. You want a ride home then?"

Rikki shrugged. "It'd be nice, but I can walk."

Letty shook her head and led the girl to the kitchen. "Let me grab my keys and I'll give you a lift. There's no sense in walking when someone can drive you."

"What was that?" Dom asked as Letty and Rikki entered the kitchen.

He was sitting at a small table with a mug of coffee in his hands while his sister Mia was standing in front of the stove cooking what smelled like bacon. Rikki couldn't wait to get out of the kitchen as her stomach turned.

"I'm taking the poor girl home. Jesse had her trapped on that damn couch all night. You know what it's like to sleep on."

Dom nodded his head in understanding. "See ya 'round, kid," he said in goodbye then turned back to his coffee. It was weird seeing his Letty being nice to someone that wasn't part of the family. Perhaps he should be drinking something stronger then coffee this morning…

The car ride was generally quiet unless Rikki was telling Letty which way to go. It wasn't too far away but it seemed like they hit every traffic light on the way there making the journey longer then it had to be.

Waving goodbye as the purple Nissan sped away Rikki headed towards her apartment where a surely grumpy Brian was waiting for her. Now that he wasn't busy working he would certainly be wondering where she was.

As she walked through the door she found him at the table with a slice of toast in one hand, a coffee mug in the other and a newspaper spread out in front of him.

"I found your cell phone," he said without looking up. "It was beside the answering machine, which has a message for you by the way."

Rikki raised an eyebrow in question about the lack of lecture but didn't comment on it. She wasn't about to bring anything up if he wasn't. She would rather escape the whole thing, thank you very much!

Pressing the button on the answering machine she waited for it to rewind and turned on her cell phone. When the tape was ready Rikki pressed play on the machine and waited. "You have one new message. First message: Rikki this is Stephen from Papa Larry's. I'm sorry to say that we no longer require need you here at the restaurant. If you could come in some time today to pick up your last payment or if you are too busy give us a call and we'll mail it to you." The machine beeped, signaling the end of the message before saying, "End of new messages."

Rikki rolled her eyes. It didn't come to much of a shock to her. She had been late for work many times thanks to Brian's efforts. This explained why Brian didn't give her any trouble this morning.

"I'm taking a shower," was all she said to Brian and made her way to her bedroom to pick up a towel. "Oh and by the way, you're having someone bring up my car."

With that she shut the bathroom door loudly and locked it behind her.

Today was going to be a crap day, Rikki could feel it already. She turned the hot water tap on all the way and twisted the cold only a little. The steam from the shower as well as the heat from the water would make her feel better. When she was feeling like this, a shower was the only thing that could.

Brian didn't respond to Rikki's temper, just smirked to himself and took another sip of his coffee before turning the page of his newspaper. He could already tell, today was going to be a good day.

* * *

A/N: Well there it was, chapter six. I hope you all enjoyed it. I made Letty way to ooc, but yea...There's just no buts about it. It more then likely isn't acceptable, but it's how I found that part of this chapter written. I'm not so sure I like it cause it was a struggle to write. Actually, I think I have all of them ooc, but it's been so long since I have seen the movie (my mum hate it you see and I haven't been able to find it online...).  
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and hopefully you''ll all review. I love getting reviews :) 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I know, I know. I have to be one of the worst updaters in the history of I'm not going to hand you any excuses, as really there aren't any good ones to give you. I'm just not good at updating. So here it is, chapter seven. I'm sorry about it's length. It's only 1107 words which is roughly three pages typed in my word document. I'm going to try to make the next one longer. I thought I owed it to everyone who actually reads this and those who stick with me an update.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE everyone who reviewed. Thank you so much to ** BrokenAngel1753, .-HeartsDivided-., aliensister, and RagingRaven.** I would also really like to thank ** 03- Baby Girl -93, Vinces-Girl, and myppe ** who were some of my first reviewers and were with me through the original of this story :) I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Thanks again for your reviews :)

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Rikki got out of the shower and walked to her room with only a towel wrapped around her. Having been lost in her thoughts earlier she had forgotten to take some clothes from her room. Older brother's were a pain in the ass, that's all there was to it.

After her shower and getting dressed in fresh clothes Rikki felt better and less queasy then she had earlier that morning. So she headed to the kitchen in search of something to eat. Perhaps toast would be best, just in case her stomach was trying to pull a fast one on her…

On the kitchen table was a note from Brian, explaining how he was at _work_ and would be home later that night so, 'don't wait up for me'.

"Whatever," Rikki mumbled to herself. She scrunched up the note and tossed it into the waste paper basket.

Brian was at work, leaving Rikki alone in the apartment. What was she going to do then? She no longer had a job, so work for her wasn't an option. Plus, there wasn't really a sense in looking for another job as Brian would only attempt to get her fired from that one too. So what were her options? Stay home, or go find something to do: She would go find something to do.

Grabbing her wallet and cell phone, she decided to make herself useful and go out to get some groceries. Brian was horrible at keeping on top of things of that sort. It really made her wonder who took care of who at times.

She had taken a cab to the nearest grocery store, one that Brian's coworkers had recommended. She wasn't sure what kind of food they ate, but it couldn't be edible if they were shopping here.

Half way through her internal deliberation as to whether or not to buy some dreadful looking lettuce, she heard her name being called by someone behind her. Turning around she saw Mia.

"I thought it was you," the older girl said with a pleasant smile. "What's up?"

Rikki gave a noncommittal shrug and gestured towards the vegetables. "Not a whole lot. Brian seems to believe that we can survive without food, my stomach thought otherwise."

Mia smiled her understanding. "No one at our house will do the shopping either," she replied and began to bag some tomatoes. "Letty hates it as much as the guys do, even if they eat us out of house and home."

Rikki laugh softly. "You'd swear to God we never kept food in the house!" she agreed as she placed a suitable head of lettuce into her cart which already held various other vegetables.

Mia and Rikki continued on with their shopping, picking up various things while talking about life in general. When they were both ready to check out Mia said she would give Rikki a lift home.

"I can take a cab home," Rikki replied awkwardly. She didn't want to impose herself since Letty had already driven her home once today.

Mia shrugged it off. "Its fine, my place is past your apartment building anyway," Rikki didn't bother asking how she knew where she lived. It more then likely had something to do with her brother, in which case she'd really rather not know. "Besides, cab ride can get ridiculous after a while. They all charge so much, it's easier on you this way."

Rikki sighed as she pushed her cart forward a little more when the line advanced. "Thank you," she said as she began to unload the cart onto the check out.

Mia shrugged. "It's no problem. Say, Letty and I plan on going out tonight, you know to get away from the guys," Rikki had a feeling Letty wasn't entirely going voluntarily. "You want to join us? It'd be more fun with another person."

Rikki paused to think about it for a moment. On the one hand, Brian wouldn't be happy with her going out two nights in a row. But Brian had to relinquish control over her life at some point. She was pretty much nineteen for heaven's sake! Legally and adult, what say did he have in her life?

"That sounds like fun, if you don't think Letty would mind me tagging along."

Mia waved it off. "She'll be cool with it. She doesn't seem to mind you as much as she does other girls."

Rikki shrugged, she was used to people having that feeling towards her. "Will I be meeting you at your place?" she asked as she placed the last item up.

"No we'll come by and pick you up. How about around seven," Mia suggested, Rikki nodded her consent. "We can get something to eat and catch a movie before heading out in search of some fun."

Rikki smiled back at the older girl. "That sounds great," she said as she paid the lady at the cash register.

Mia nodded. "We need to let the 'men' take care of themselves every once and a while. It's good for their egos to have a bit of humility."

Rikki laughed outright at this as she stepped forward to put her bags of food back into the cart to help her carry them out to Mia's car. "Damn straight," she agreed. "Those boys think to highly of themselves."

"I have yet to meet a man that doesn't," the lady at the cash commented with a grin, and the two girls grinned back.

Oh how it felt good to have someone to male-bash with. It was times like these Rikki missed her girlfriends from back home. Maybe instead of relying on Brian to have someone bring up her car she could call one of her girls. But which one, they all had school this time of year…Unless…

"Ready to go," Mia asked, bringing Rikki out of her thoughts.

She nodded absentmindedly before smiling brightly. "Yea, let's go. I want to get this home before the chicken thaws. I don't know how long it will last in this California heat."

"It can't be worse than Arizona," Mia commented as they pushed their carts outside.

Rikki shrugged. "Some days I have to wonder…" Man did she miss home. Things were at least familiar there. But then, seeing all that L.A. had to offer seemed to pull Rikki in.

Mia laughed. "Let's get you home, Shortie. The guys will be home soon and we have to break the news."

Rikki nodded her agreement, though in her case she also had to make a little phone call. Oh boy she couldn't wait to see Brian's face if this all went through!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I know this chapter is short but you'll have to forgive me. I will try to make the next chapter longer. I owed you guys an update and I haven't been feeling too creative with this story lately. I hope you all enjoy it though. Thanks to all of those who reviewed, you know who you are and I really appreciate it. Thank you also to those people who have added this story to their alert list. It makes me smile :)**  
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**Chapter Eight**

Brian couldn't figure out why Rikki had been in such a good mood over the past few days. Not that he liked seeing her miserable, but she still should have been pissed off at him for making her lose her job. Maybe it was because she was hanging out with Mia at Toretto's. Or maybe it was Jesse's influence. She had been hanging out with both a lot lately.

Brian frowned as he watched his sister flick through the TV channels. This had to be the first time in three days that he had seen her sitting in the house.

"Not going anywhere today?" he asked as he leaned against the living room entrance way.

Rikki shrugged noncommittally and kept her eyes on the television set.

"What's up with Mia and Jesse today?"

Rikki switched the channel after pausing a second to see if the show was interesting. "Mia is working on a project for school and Jesse has to catch up on some work at the shop," Now she turned to look at her brother. "Why?"

"This is the first time I've seen you home for a while."

Rikki looked at her brother as if he was an alien. "If you wanted to hang out all you had to do was ask. I just figured you were too busy with all your police stuff."

Brian shrugged. "Just wanted to know what's up."

He walked out of the room with a frown on his face. Something wasn't right. If he knew Rikki, and he liked to think that by now he did, she was planning something.

'Damn, I better get a fire extinguisher. Just in case,' he thought as he opened the cupboard above the sink for a coffee mug. The last time this had happened Rikki had accidentally set fire to the kitchen.

Brian had just poured his cup of coffee when there was a knock at the door. He frowned, not remembering letting anyone into the building. At Rikki's shriek he placed down his coffee mug and ran to the door. He reached the entrance way to see Rikki embracing a girl a little taller than herself.

"Rik, what's going on?" he asked in confusion.

Rikki broke the embrace with the girl and turned to face her older brother with a wide smile. "You remember Britty, don't cha Bri?" she asked. "I needed someone to bring my car down for me. Britty was due for a vacation and viola. My girl's here."

Brian looked between the two girls. Brittany was taller than Rikki's 5'2" stature and was an amazing 5'6". Her hair was longer than Rik's own auburn locks, and reached the middle of her back, though was the same shade.

"Thanks for the notice," Brian said back sarcastically.

"Thanks for the love, Bri," Brittany replied just as sarcastically.

Brian rolled his eyes as his sister accepted the car keys from Brittany and picked up some of the bags on the floor. "Come on in, we'll get you set up in my room so you can nap. You sound tired, no sleep again?"

Brian half listened to the two girls' mindless chatter as he headed back to the kitchen. This was just great. Now he'd have to deal with living with two very picky girls, ones that loved to have their way with no highway options.

Brian looked to his coffee and went to the liquor cabinet. Why did today have to be his day off? This was going to be hell.

'Note to self: Learn to stop pissing off Rik.'


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Before anyone asks, yes I do realize how long its been since I've updated and no I don't have an excuse. Thanks to all those who reviewed (Sliver of Melody, myppye, aliensister, and x-Hemi-x) and also to those who have recently added me to an alert list (I'm sorry I don't have a list for that, I have a bad habit of deleting things like that.)  
Oh, and I raised the rating due to the swearing and such. I thought it suitable for teen, but appartently according to the site, it should be M. So I upped it just as a precaution. Stories have been deleted for less infractures.  
Enjoy and please review to tell me what you think can be better or with what you liked about the story/chapter - **

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**Chapter Nine:**

Once Rikki and Brittany got the room set up to their liking, she wanted to know what Rikki did 'for fun.' Rikki then smirked and dragged her friend through the house. Before Brian could ask she had said,

"We're going out for a ride. Be back later," and slammed the door behind her.

Brian had only shaken his head and went back to the T.V. set in front of him. It was just as good that the girls would be out for a while. He had to go and see Bilkins and Tanner later to give an update and then he and Rikki were expected at Toretto's for dinner. Today was going to be a long day…

XxXxX

Rikki got into the driver's seat of her car and visibly relaxed. "Man I missed her," she said with a contented sigh.

Brittany laughed. "Girl you are too crazy about this car."

"You grow up with a brother and father like mine, and tell me how you fair out," Rikki replied. "And you gotta admit," she added as she started the car. "She sounds damn good."

The first stop had been for gas. Brittany having driven here from Barstow on only half a tank of gas it needed a refill. Their next stop however, had been to Toretto's.

"She's not a racer," Mia commented as she stepped out of the store, "But she's pretty."

Rikki smiled. "That's why she was bought. My dad gave it to me in his will. Since I've been able to drive she's been mine."

Mia nodded and pushed them inside, her excuse being it was too hot outside to stand in the sun.

"Mia, this is Brittany my girl from back home. Brittany, this is Mia, the girl I told you about.

"You been talking about me," Mia asked jokingly, "I didn't know you cared so much, Rik."

Rikki smiled back. "No worries, I only told her all your nasty habits. You finished that project of yours?"

Mia rolled her eyes. "Not even close. So I decided to take a break."

Rikki smirked. "The guys needed something to eat didn't they?"

Mia laughed. "You hang out here too much."

"Who are the guys," Brittany asked curiously.

"My brother and his friends," Mia replied. "They work at the garage attached to this place. You'll get to meet them yourself tonight," she then turned to Rikki, "You guys are still coming over for dinner tonight, right?"

Rikki nodded, "Yup, I just wanted my girl to see a little more than our messy apartment before we went anywhere else."

"You never have been good at cleaning," Brittany commented.

Rikki pointed to the car outside. "You see her? There's not a scrap of garbage or anything in there then what's needed."

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Your car doesn't count."

"I love my mustang," Rikki pouted. "Daddy did too for your information. He'd be proud."

Mia shook her head. "Come on, as long as you're here you can help me tidy up after your man."

"He's not my man," Rikki protested. "What is this, pick on Rikki day?"

Mia turned to Brittany. "I think we're all gonna get along just fine."

XxXxX

Rikki and Brittany left Toretto's at around four to make sure that Brian was in the process of getting ready to leave. When they got back to the apartment they found Brian sprawled out on the couch asleep. Rikki rolled her eyes at the sight while Brittany giggled.

"Typical, he hasn't changed a bit," the other girl said quietly.

"Tell me about it. He still doesn't let me out of the house without a tracking device," Rikki said back sarcastically. "Come on help me dump him on his ass so we can get to Mia's before all the food is gone."

Brittany nodded her consent and went over to the couch with Rikki. They had done this multiple times at home, why shouldn't they here? That was their logic behind it anyway, though they both knew Brian would fail to see it that way. Each girl grabbed a cushion, waited for the count of three, then pulled causing the cushions to come out from underneath the older man and made him roll off the couch and onto the floor.

Brian groaned and rolled onto his back. "Nice to see you two are still out to kill me."

Brittany smiled sweetly back. "Come on now big bro, don't act like that," Brittany had hung around the house so often she had become to view Rikki and Brian as the siblings she had never had. "We had to wake you up or you'd miss out on supper. And we all know how you get without food in that big gut of yours."

Rikki laughed and helped her older brother up off the floor. "Seriously though, we have to get ready to leave soon. Mia wants us to help out a bit before we eat since there are so many people going to be there."

Brian nodded. "Yea, yea just let me shower and we'll leave."

"Just save some water for the fishies there, yea?" Brittany called after him and laughed when Brian flipped her off. "Man it's good to be back."

After Brian's fifteen minute too long shower, the group piled in Brian's work truck and went to the Toretto home. Brittany and Rikki had talked nonstop while listening to some classic rock. Brian rolled his eyes at the dorm room stories Brittany was telling them as Rikki laughed her head off, wishing she had been there with her friend to have seen it all herself. By the time they had reached their destination, Brian was tired of Metallica and was ready for someone else to talk to, even if that included Vince.

Mia quickly grabbed Brian and Brittany's attention, saying she wanted some help in the kitchen while Jesse claimed Rikki's attention.

"They said you were going to show up, I didn't believe them," he said as he directed her over to some lawn chairs.

"Why not," Rikki asked as she took a seat beside him.

Jesse shrugged. "I dunno, there's just something about Sunday supper that's sacred around here, you know? Like, it's meant for family and family only. Not that you're not welcome here or anything," he quickly went on to explain. "It's just the way Dom likes it. He doesn't like to stray far from tradition."

Rikki nodded her head. "I can understand that. Bri's dad was the same way. Though with my mother, her main thing was Sunday breakfast after Church. She made a big deal out of it."

"Your mum was a big Church goer?"

"Not as much when she remarried," Rikki replied, looking off into the distance as she thought back on the way things had been. "She always needed someone to direct her, to tell her which way was up and how high she was meant to jump. She liked living that way. I guess my dad started the Church thing. I don't know. But she kept it up until she met Jason."

It was Jesse's turn to nod. "My mum was the opposite. She wasn't happy unless she had something to rule over. She liked to try and keep my old man in line," he looked down and smiled. "She hated that he didn't listen, guess that's what kept them together so long. She didn't leave until he got arrested."

"Is that how you ended up here?" she asked.

Jesse looked back up at her. "Sorta, Leon and I are cousins through my mum. He came from New York and we've been together since."

"Brian and I have lived together pretty much all our lives. I never had his natural talent in school, so once he graduated mum and dad practically pissed off. Brian pretty much is the only reason I finished school in the first place."

"Ah, hell no," they heard a voice come from the drive way. Rikki knew it was Vince. In her time with hanging out with Mia and Jesse she had gotten to know who was who rather well. "I'm not staying here."

She knew immediately she had seen Brian helping Mia out of the house with all the salads.

"Come on V, give me a hand here," Dom called out to the guy he thought as a brother.

"It looks like you got all the help you need, brother!"

Letty called after him, but Vince only handed the grocery bags he had in his hands to Leon before heading back to his car and driving off.

"Well, so far so good," Rikki said sarcastically.

Jesse smiled. "He'll be back. He doesn't function so good without food in his belly."

Rikki smiled back. "What male doesn't?" she said back.

Jesse reached out and pinched her side causing Rikki to shriek and laugh slightly. "Not fair," she exclaimed, "Unfair tickling advantage right there."

"Then next time think before you insult the ones who know your weaknesses," Jesse said back and poked her in the side again.

Rikki laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "Just because you know my weaknesses doesn't mean you have to suck and use them."

Jesse put an arm around her shoulders as they walked towards the dinner table. "That I do, Spitfire. How else would I have my fun?"

"Enough you two," Dom said and set the chicken down on the table. "Let's eat."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Who knew that actually consentraiting on your homework was so much effing work?! I didn't. Its been a long time since I last updated. And in that time I've had a large number of assignments, been sick, and had my wisdom teeth removed. How nuts is that?? Plus this thursday I finally took some time to myself to hang out with my friends and just do stupid shit - I've missed doing that. I so need to do it more often Lol

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Have fun reading and tell me what you think. I probably left you at a mean spot with what I have mentioned, but I promise it shall be in the next chapter. -

Chapter Ten

Jesse had been right when he said that Vince would be back. Not too long after Jesse had 'prayed to the car gods' Vince had shown up. Of course, Leon had made a big deal out of it, being the goof that he is. After that people seemed to get along. Vince would occasionally glare at Brian, a look which he returned, but the two boys left it at that.

Everyone had a few drinks and had a few laughs while they were at it. Once it began to get dark things were moved inside and a movie was put on. _Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story_ Rikki was told. She shrugged it off and took a seat beside Jesse on the floor. Who was she to knock it when she hadn't seen it before?

The peace seemed to end there however, as part way through the movie while Vince got up to get another beer Leon demanded that he make another bowl of popcorn. In doing so he found Brian in the kitchen helping Mia tidy up the dinner things. He said a few things then Mia asked Brian to take him to the restaurant Vince had always wanted to take her to. That had been the last straw and Vince stormed away.

Rikki sighed from her spot on the floor leaning against Jesse. "So much for those two ever getting along," she said quietly to no one in particular. Though of course, with Jesse being so close he heard her comment.

"V just doesn't like new people. He'll come around," Jesse said back to her.

Rikki shook her head. Unless some life saving act was made, she sincerely doubted that those two would ever get along. After all, Vince didn't seem to mind Rikki so long as she didn't get in his way. Brian was always in his way, especially when Mia was involved.

"Somehow I doubt that," Rikki replied as she looked to see Mia and Brian flirting in the kitchen. This so wasn't a good idea, not if Brian wasn't expecting to stay here forever…

Rikki frowned at that thought. Was Brian planning on staying? Or was he planning on leaving the moment this was over? Brian had never explained what 'this' was. Perhaps it was time she had a few words with her older brother.

Jesse leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder. When Rikki looked down Jesse looked up and shot her a smile before looking back up at TV set. Maybe talking to Brian could wait until tomorrow.

XxXxX

"Brian," Rikki called out to her brother as he was shaving to get ready for work the next day, "How long are we staying here for?"

Brian paused in his shaving for a moment before he went back to it and asked, "Why, you want to leave?"

Rikki sighed and shook her head. "I don't want to see anyone hurt."

Brian looked down at the sink full of water as he cleaned off his razor. "No one's gonna get hurt."

Rikki kept looking at her brother, trying to figure out what was going through his head. "What are we doing here Brian? Are they suspects or something?"

Brian gave up on shaving for the moment. "Can't we talk about this some other time?"

"We need to talk about this Brian," Rikki said forcefully. "They're good people. Why are we here?"

Brian picked up his razor again. "Just let me finish up here and I'll explain."

Rikki gave her brother a looked before nodding. "You better. This is serious Brian. You're getting in deep, we're getting in deep."

Brian closed his eyes and sighed. His sister was right of course. They were getting into this deep, real deep. He had seen the way Jesse would look at his sister, Hell he had feelings for Dom's sister and Dom was possibly the whole reason why he was here in the first place. What if Dom and his team were involved in this mess? Going back to shaving he tried to think things through, and hoped it would all work out with time.

"So that's it," Rikki demanded when Brian had explained the whole thing to her. "You really think they're behind all of those truck hijackings that have been going on?"

Brian shrugged and leaned back into the couch they were sitting on to talk. "I don't know."

Rikki rested her elbows on her knees, putting her weight on them she leaned forward and her eyebrows were brought together in thought. "Who else could pull something like that off?"

Brian stopped to think about it. "Hector came into Harry's the other day and asked for a bunch of stuff and put them on a delivery rush. Tran has the money and hardware. I don't know who else could possibly do it. Dom doesn't wanna go back, it doesn't make sense for him to want to be doing shit like this…"

Rikki nodded. It wasn't like she could go straight up to Jesse and ask him about it. "What if it is them?" she asked.

"I bring them in," Brian said like it was obvious. Really it was, but that didn't mean that Rikki had to like the idea of it.

"I don't want in on this Bri. I won't help you if you think it's them. It's too much like betraying them. I won't do that to Mia or Jesse."

Brian nodded his head. "I don't want to do it any more than you do. I'm gonna check out their garages, maybe I'll find something that will lead us to them."

Rikki nodded her head. "Alright…Just, tell me if you find anything."

Brian brought his sister into a comforting hug and gave her a brotherly kiss on the top of her head. "When are you and Jesse going out?" he asked to change the subject.

"Tonight actually," Rikki said with a smile. They had made plans for it to be just the two of them after the movie though right before she and Brian had left to go home. "It's nothing big, just dinner."

Brian smiled back and gave Rikki a light shove. "You're excited."

"Totally," Rikki replied honestly, glad she was able to talk with her brother. "He's coming to pick me up at seven, give or take a few minutes."

Brian nodded. "I'll probably still be at Harry's doing inventory shit. For all that's just a cover he's sure putting me to work. I'll probably check out Tran and Hector's garages after that."

"Don't wait up for me then bro," Rikki said with a smirk and headed to her room. Tonight was going to be interesting for the both of them, she was sure of it.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I more than likely shouldn't be posting this. One, I'm not all that happy with the chapter, I hate writing dates...I don't do dates they're not my thing so therefore writing date scenes for me is awkward (Not to mention thinking of a nice date like thing) Two: its 3:20 of the am variety so I am dead tired. So tired that there's more than likely a boat load of mistakes and haven't read over my work yet. But I so totally owe like fifty bazillion posts within the next few days so I'm more concerned about that. I can fix things up later when I'm more alert.

I hope you enjoy reading the chapter more than I enjoyed writing it :) Lol Please review to tell me what you think.

Oh! One more thing. I think I totally screwed up the time line more than a little...I haven't seen the movie in a dogs age and I really don't feel like looking it up online right now since I don't own the movie (Mum hates it ergo it is not in the house). And another thing: I will be gone July 3 - 13 and there will be zero time for writing. I hope to post on either the 1st or the 2nd before I leave though. We shall see what happens.

Oh my God and a plot bunny just hit for the end of this story :) Woot-ness...

Ta for now I need to write it down before I forget :)

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Chapter Eleven

Rikki couldn't wait for her date. She wasn't sure why she was reacting to the whole situation like a love-struck teenager. It wasn't like her to be that way. She assumed it had something to do with growing up with Brian and his friends as role models.

Looking in the mirror one last time she glanced at the clock. She had to be the only girl in history to be ready for a date ten minutes early. Laughing slightly at the stereotype Rikki flopped down on her bed and brought her laptop closer towards her. Opening her music player she put on her dance mix in hopes to level out her emotions. It wasn't really working. Switching it up to her mix of random songs she hoped that would do the trick. No dice. Just as she was contemplating downloading some rather emo sounding songs the buzzer rang through the apartment telling her that someone was at the door wanting to come up.

Putting the music on pause, Rikki headed to the doorway where the speaker was located. Pressing 'intercom' she spoke, 'Yea?"

"Hey Rik, it's me," Jesse's voice called back up to her.

Pressing the 'open' button she knew the door would let off that annoying buzzing sound and allow the boy into the building. Giggling to herself Rikki headed to her room quickly to grab her wallet and turn off her computer. Knowing that the apartment was on the ninth floor and how slow the elevator was she had a few minutes.

Shoving her wallet into her back pocket, Rikki moved to her desk and opened a drawer. Inside, there was random pieced of paper, a bag of four packs of gum, and a package of mints. Taking a mint out, she popped it into her mouth before heading to the living room and shutting the bedroom door behind her. Before heading to the entry way to put on her shoes she grabbed her keys as a last minute thought, just in case she came back to the apartment and Brian wasn't there to let her back in.

A knock at the door told her Jesse had arrived. Opening the door she saw he was dressed in a dress shirt with jeans along with the trademark beanie on his head.

"Ready to go," Jesse asked after giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Rikki nodded her head and both stepped out of the apartment. "Where are we going," she asked as she locked up and they headed towards the elevator, which was conveniently located around the corner from the apartment.

Jesse only smiled though didn't answer her, knowing it would tick her off in the slightest bit.

Rikki sighed, catching the game he was playing. "Fine, see if you get a goodnight kiss."

The date continued in the light, relaxed atmosphere they had created. Little jokes like that were trading on and off throughout the night. The date had consisted mainly of Jesse showing Rikki the different sights since really she hadn't been shown anything other than a small area. They stopped in at one of Jesse's favorite places to eat for a bit of supper before he took her to a little coffee shop and out for a walk along the beach.

They talked about a number of things, though never really getting into any real serious topics. The conversation stayed relaxed and laid back. They headed back to the care and sat on the hood as they finished up their coffees. Jesse had turned the radio on, giving a little background noise as they watched the sun set behind the waves.

"You ever think about what life would be like if you hadn't of taken that right turn," Rikki said suddenly, breaking the pause in conversation between them, "Hypothetically speaking I mean."

Rikki looked up at him from her place resting against his side. They were both laying back so that their backs were against the windshield of the car. Jesse shrugged and shook his head. "Nah, if I wasn't meant to be here I wouldn't be."

Rikki thought about his comment for a moment, it suited him. Jesse was struck her as a live in the moment kind of guy, the type that didn't particularly care to think too far into the future or read too far into things.

"I was thinking about it before Bri and I came out here," she said back as she looked back out at the water gently rolling onto the shore than back into the source. It was a rather calming rhythm. "If I had of fought him on coming out here, I'd probably be in some University studying or writing up a term paper or something."

Jesse shifted slightly so he could see Rikki's face and read her expression better. "Do you regret it?"

Rikki smiled briefly before looking up at Jesse. "Life's too short to regret anything. Besides, I wouldn't be having as much fun out there as I'm having here."

Rikki leaned in and Jesse followed her lead. Though Rikki initiated it, he quickly took control, pulling her closer to him as the kiss deepened at his pace.

"What time did you have to be back again," Jesse asked as Rikki placed a light kiss on his collar bone. He knew how protective Brian got over his baby sister. If she had been his baby sister with a guy with his same intentions he would be a little overprotective too.

Rikki smiled and looked back up at Jesse. "Bri's on a date with Mia tonight," was all she said, and really that was all she needed to say.

Each of the Team was doing their own thing tonight. Vince and Leon had gone to the bar, looking for a girl to hook up with for the night. Dom and Letty had decided they needed some time to themselves and had, at the prompting of the others, gone away for the night and wouldn't be back until the next night. Brian would more than likely be taking Mia back to the apartment so that meant that the house was all theirs.

Getting into the car Jesse drove as Rikki called her brother, leaving a message to let him know that they were 'catching a movie' at the house and she wasn't sure when she'd be in.

Both Rikki and Jesse acted calm and cool as they walked up the steps of the porch and Jesse unlocked the door. As they walked inside Jesse shut the door behind them and Rikki walked further into the house, stepping into the living room. Jesse threw his keys down on the coffee table before wrapping his arms around Rikki's waist from behind and pulling her into him, placing a kiss on her neck, clearly setting to work on marking her as taken.

--

Rikki woke up the next morning to a feeling she hadn't had in a long time. Instead of curled around a pillow or her blankets, she was curled into the body of the young man lying beside her. Smiling to herself Rikki cuddled into the person next to her a little more and settled herself into a position where she could easily fall asleep again.

Luck wasn't with her however as at that particular moment her cell phone decided to ruin her comfort.

"God damn it," Jesse groaned as Rikki rolled away in search of her pants so she could stop the blasted ringing.

"Hello," she asked groggily into the mobile after flipping it open without even looking at the caller ID.

"Have a good night," the person on the other end of the phone replied.

Rikki's eyebrows were brought together in confusion. "I think you got the wrong number man. It's 6852 not 6352," she said back. "So if you don't mind I'd rather like to get more sleep."

"No, no, Ms _Spillner_ we have the right number," the person assured. "We've recently become aware of how…close…you've become with the subject and we have a little deal for you."

Now Rikki's eyebrows were brought together in frustration, "What?"

"I'm sure you heard me correctly. You're brother gave us the get go on some faulty information. We need someone on the inside to get us better information."

Rikki shook her head, completely in shock that these people would call her _here_ of all places and ask her to do something like this. "Listen," she said, trying to keep her calm. "I don't work for you, I'm not about to do his dirty work for him. That's his job not mine."

With that Rikki shut her phone off and tossed it down onto the ground next to the bed. Flopping back down on the bed she laid on her stomach, thinking about the conversation she had just had. How on earth did they know what she had been up to? Were they watching her? Following her? Where they hell did they get off wanting her to be their little mole? She didn't work for them.

"Who was that," Jesse asked as he rolled over to lay next to her, kissing Rikki's shoulder lightly as he drew closer.

Rikki shook her head and sighed, "Just some people Brian used to know from back home," she replied. "No big."

Jesse dropped the conversation there, even though it was his nature to poke and pry until he got the information he wanted. It would have to wait for another day, one where she didn't look pissed off enough to endanger his manhood when he asked.

Just as Rikki allowed Jesse to roll her over so she was now on her back and he was resting on top of her, Jesse's phone began to ring from the bedside table.

Sighing he rested his forehead against hers. "What is this grand central fucking station?"

Rikki shrugged and replied, "I guess we're just that awesome."

Jesse sat up more and reached over to answer his cell phone. "What," he said sharply into it. Clearly he wasn't pleased about having to stop what he had intended to do. "Whoa, relax man everything's good to go. I gave the engines a look over, we're good." There was another pause as he listened to the person on the other end. "Yea, yea tonight I got it."

Jesse hung up the phone and much like Rikki had earlier, tossed his cell phone carelessly back onto the bedside table. "Now where were we," he asked, leaning back down so that his forehead once again was against hers.

Rikki smirked, bringing her right hand up to the back of his neck, "Right about here," she said before bringing her lips to his. Yes, this was how she wanted to wake up for the rest of her stay in L.A.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Shhh...no one tell my sister that I'm updating on her computer!! This is it guys, I'm almost finished with this story. There's like two chapters left after this one. Seriously. I also watched the movie the other day and realized how much I totally screwed up the timeline. T.T Ah well.

I hope you enjoy the chapter at any rate . Please review to tell me what you think. I promise to update again as soon as I can! With my sister away I'm bound to play haha

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Tangled In This Web – Chapter 12

When Rikki got back home later that day she still couldn't get over the fact that Brian's superiors had tried to enlist her in helping them. She was a civilian, not a cop. There was no way she was doing any of their dirty work. Let them do their job, she wanted nothing to do with it.

"Brian," Rikki yelled into the apartment, "Get your dumb ass out here now before I have to go searching for it to kick your ass!"

When Rikki got angry she didn't really think things through before she spoke and therefore her sentences rarely made any real sense to someone with sanity.

"What are you yelling about," Brian asked as he came out of the bathroom, his hair still wet from his shower.

Rikki glared at her brother before saying, "You need to tell your little cop friends to back out of my business. Do you know where I was this morning when they called me?" Brian only had time to raise an eyebrow before Rikki continued, "I was at the team's house with the called informing me they knew how 'close' I was with them. You know what else? They want me to give them information about what the team does!"

Once Rikki had finished her rant and Brian was about to respond, there was a knock at the door before it opened and Agent Bilkins along with Sergeant Tanner walked through the door.

"Good, you're both home," Sergeant Tanner said pleasantly as he closed the door behind me.

"Actually, I was just leaving," Rikki replied and moved for the door. Agent Bilkins stopped her before she could take two steps.

"In the same clothes you wore last night," he asked and let go of her arm. "Sit down, kid. We're all gonna talk."

Rikki glared at the man and crossed her arms stubbornly and rather childishly over her chest. "You can talk all you want, that doesn't mean I'm gonna listen."

Brian rolled his eyes at his sister's behavior and dragged her into the living room. "Just amuse them, alright?" he asked of her as they sat on the couch. "You don't have to do anything they tell you. That's my job."

"That's what I told them this morning," Rikki shot back.

"Speaking of this morning, I don't appreciate having the phone hung up in my ear," Bilkins commented as she sat down in one of the chairs.

Rikki leaned back into the couch, "And I don't appreciate assholes like you minding my business."

"It is out business when you start sleeping with one of our suspects."

Brian sat up in surprise, "What?!"

Rikki rolled her eyes. "I'm a big girl, Bri, I can take care of myself."

"Do you know how much trouble you could get in," Brian demanded.

"That's exactly why we're here," Bilkins spoke up again, "By refusing to help us you are helping them which makes you punishable by law."

It was a long shot really. She had nothing to do with it. She could be charged with negligence at the most since she knew what was going on but did not report the criminal act to the authorities.

"That's if they're even involved," Rikki shop back, "Which they're not."

"You don't know that," Sergeant Tanner said back diplomatically. "We're not with them 24/7."

"Exactly," Rikki glared back, "What do you think, Bri? Didn't you check out everyone's garage?"

Brian sighed and leaned back into the couch as Agent Bilkins directed his gaze to her brother for a change. "He gave us the go ahead on the wrong guy. That's why we're enlisting you kid."

Rikki rolled her eyes. These guys just didn't get it. No matter what anyone did or said she did nobody's bitch work. She told them so adding a quick, "I asked for Bri's opinion, not yours."

"Well Brian," Sergeant Tanner spoke up, "What do you think, is Toretto involved or not?"

Brian ran a hand through his still wet hair, pushing his bangs off his forehead as he thought. Rikki knew he hoped the team wasn't involved since she was with Mia, but he didn't have enough evidence to say that they weren't.

"Dom doesn't wanna go back to prison," he finally said, "He wouldn't risk doing something like this. Jesse's smart but he was with Rikki last night when they hit," this part was added a little awkwardly on his part. "Dom's good buddy Vince is crazy enough to do it, but like I said he's not smart enough to pull it off. They all seem too controlled to do something like this – like I told you before. We don't have enough evidence to convict."

Bilkins looked back to Rikki as he added, "Or to prove they aren't the dumb punks pulling the job."

Rikki didn't respond to the comment even though her argument was on the tip of her tongue. She was a civilian and therefore didn't work for them. They couldn't force her to do anything.

"Besides," Rikki added as the argument began to die down and she stood up, "Its like Brian said, Jesse was with me all night. I'd know if he left. They couldn't pull the job without him."

She left the room with that last statement. Over their time here, Rikki had become rather attached to Team Toretto. Mia was one of her best girl friends and she had more interest in Jesse than she had ever had with any of the previous boys she had been with. Lean, who acted much like a big brother to Jesse, had come to accept her as a baby sister.

She wasn't about to let anyone tear that make-shift family apart. All they had was one another and they needed each other to survive.

--

Slowly but surely the ten second car that Brian owed Dom was inching closer and closer to completion. Rikki also knew this meant that Race Wars was getting closer as well. That also meant that Brian was receiving more and more pressure from his superiors.

Rikki has also taken to turning her cell phone off when she hung out with Jess or Mia, or if she was ever near the team really. Bilkins had a habit of calling her whenever she was away from Brian. The crazy bastard was going to get them caught if he wasn't careful. Vince was already suspicious of Brian as it was, she didn't want to get on that guy's bad side. Of course, anyone with half a brain thought the same way did on that particular subject.

"Rikki," Jesse greeted her the day Brian had finished working on the car. He gave her a kiss on the lips before pulling her closer to him.

Rikki smiled as she buried her face in Jesse's neck. It was times like these that reminded her how much telling Bilkins to shove off was worth it.

"Hey Babe," he said, Rikki could hear the smile in his voice. "How was your night?"

The previous night Brian had dragged Rikki back to the apartments, claiming that she didn't spend enough time at home. Rikki, who knew the stress was beginning to get to him, allowed her brother to pull her along saying to Jesse that she would see him the next day.

Rikki pulled back from the embrace slightly so that she would be able to look him in the eye as the spoke, "Bri's just a little over worked, ya know? When he's not working for Harry he's putting a lot of hours into that car."

"'That car,'" Jesse responded with a smirk, "Is finished."

Rikki's eyes lit up, "You serious?"

"Would I lie about something like this," he shot back.

Rikki laughed and pulled Jesse close to her once more. "Man, I've got to see this."

"Dom and Bri took it out for a little joy ride," Jesse said back.

Now it was Rikki's turn to smirk. "Where's the rest of the team?"

Jesse shrugged, "Here and there. Mia's getting lunch together for 'em."

Just with everything else in life, it all starts with a kiss. Soft and simple at first, a small taste of what might be to come. All it takes is that small taste to leave you wanting and needing more.

Another kiss, this one a little more demanding this time, with more passion letting the other know how much they need this in order to keep on going.

Jesse directed them over to the small office sometimes used by Mia when forced to do paperwork.

Rikki gave a slight gasp when Jesse moved his attention from her lips to her jaw line and neck. He knew what he was doing, and he was going for the gold.

Rikki shut the door behind her with her foot before moving them over to the desk. Jesse, believing Rikki had tasted enough control for the moment, switched their positions so that Rikki was now pressed between the desk and himself.

"No escape," he said playfully against her neck before his hands moved from her hips to the hem of her shirt and began to help Rikki in the process of undressing.

Rikki and Jesse left the office some time later in time to greet Brian and Dom was they returned. Rikki couldn't hide the blush at her brother's raised eyebrow and Dom's comment of, "Next time keep it in your pants during business hours."

--

Race Wars approached quicker than anyone really expected. A month seemed to fly by when dealing with all of Brian's drama.

"Are you seriously gonna do this, Bri," Rikki asked as they packed up what they would need.

Brian looked at his sister like she had grown three heads, "Race Wars? Hell yea I am."

Rikki shook her head and paused in her packing. "No dipshit, I meant with the team."

Brian sighed and also paused in his packing. "They're right, Rik," he told his sister. "It has to be them."

"I won't believe that," Rikki responded. "You said yourself, Bri…"

"I was lying to myself, Rik," Brian interrupted. "No one else could pull this shit off. Dom said he'd let me in on it once Race Wars was over."

Rikki sighed and closed up her duffle bag after shoving a few more clothes in along with her deodorant and body spray. "Jesse's taking me out in the Jetta," she told her brother. "I'll see ya when you get there."

As Rikki left the apartment Brian thought about what Sergeant Tanner had told him about all kinds of family. He had never seen Rikki take to a bunch of people like she had with Team Toretto. And Mia…

Damn, he had a lot of thinking to do and not a whole hell of a lot of time to do it in.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Here is the second last chapter. I hope you enjoy it. The last one will but up when I get back from my uncle's place on Friday. Though I may update on Thursday. I'm not sure. Everything depends on how much computer time I get. Especially since I have to borrow one whether I'm at my uncles or at home. But yea...Like I said, enjoy the chapter :)

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Tangled In This Web – Chapter 13

Jesse laughed as Rikki stared wide-eyed at everything that was going on around them. She looked like a little kid in Santa's workshop if he was to be honest about it. It was the cutest thing he had ever seen, not that he'd ever admit it aloud for anyone to hear.

As they waited in the line up to get in and receive their number, Jesse quickly leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Just wait 'till the racing starts, then you'll see some wicked shit."

Rikki shot him a smile before the car moved forward again. Deep down she had a weird feeling. She knew he gut was trying to tell her something, but as she didn't know what it was she didn't think on it again. Either way, whatever was going to happen would happen whether she wanted it to or not.

Brian eventually showed up after everything had been set up. Jesse had been right when he said that once the races began she would see some wicked shit. There were a lot of beautiful machines out here and Rikki found it hard to keep her eyes glued to their sockets, something both Jesse and Leon found rather amusing.

Eventually Jesse decided to try his hand at racing. Leon and Rikki stayed in the car to hold his place while he went back to the trailer to pick up something to bet with.

Rikki took another glance at the Honda 2000 beside them. If there was one thing she had learned from these guys it was that you never knew what a guy was running under the hood until you raced them.

"He's got this, Rik," Leon told her as they approached the line. "He knows what he's doing."

Rikki nodded her head, "I know. I just don't want him to do anything stupid."

Leon nudged her shoulder before getting out of the car. He was right. Jesse knew what he was doing.

"Just visualize the win, you gotta listen to me brother, visualize the win."

Jesse nodded his head, half-listening to what Leon was telling him. Rikki turned her so that he was facing her before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't rely on the nitrous," she told him. "Keep your head, don't use it too early."

When Rikki noticed it was Tran he was racing for slips, her eyes practically bugged out of her skull. But it was too late to back out now.

"Oh shit," she said quietly to herself after watching the race. Jesse had used his nitrous oxide too soon and had lost the race as a result. "Oh my fuck…"

Leon was already dragging her over to the team as she watched Jesse keep on driving. "Dom we've got problems, its Jesse. He just raced Tran for slips."

Everyone's facial expression mirrored Rikki's. When Tran showed up, demanding Dom 'go fetch his car,' all hell promised to break loose. It did too, when Tran accused Dom of being a nark after explaining what had happened to him and his family. Needless to say, a fight broke out.

Rikki could only watch in shock at first as everyone ran wild seeing the fight. This day only seemed to be getting progressively worse. Seeing Lance come rushing over to help his cousin she nudge Letty in the right direction and she gave him a swift right hook, knocking the Asian down on the ground.

After the fight Leon led Rikki away to help her calm down. He stayed with her the rest of the day, making sure that she stayed that way. Before night even hit them she had fallen asleep against Leon's shoulder.

As time had gone by Leon began to see Rikki as a little sister. He could see how much she cared for Jesse, and though Jesse didn't realize it Leon knew the kid felt the same for Rikki. He picked her up and carried her over to the trailer where he placed her to sleep in Jesse's bunk. Hopefully the poor girl would keep on sleeping through the night.

That didn't seem to happen though. Later Brian came into the trailer rather loudly while looking for Mia. As a result he managed to wake his sister.

"Bri, what the hell," she asked him tiredly as she sat up.

Brian shushed her though as he watched an argument between Mia and Dom outside. "They're gonna do another run." Brian said himself and left Rikki to stare after him as he began to leave the trailer.

"What are you doing, Bri?"

Brian ignored his sister's question. Instead he tossed her Mia's car keys, telling Rikki to head back to the team's house and stay there in case Jesse or someone else showed up.

Rikki caught the keys though went silent at the mention of Jesse. She nodded her head, silently letting her brother know that she would do as he asked of her.

The door was locked when Rikki got to the house, meaning no one had come back yet. So she sat on the step and watched as the sun came up. She had no idea what was going through anyone's mind right now. Or what was happening but she hoped everything would be okay in the end. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle it if anyone got hurt.

When Mia and Dom showed up at the house it was light out. Rikki immediately shot up when she saw the blood on Dom's shirt. He didn't speak to her, or even look at her. So she knew her only hope of receiving any answers would be trying to talk to Mia.

"Mia, what's going on?"

"What do you care," Mia snapped back. With that Rikki knew Brian's cover had been blown.

"Look, I don't give a shit what you think about me cause of what Brian's done," she said back as calmly as she could. But she couldn't quite hide the shakiness from her voice. "But believe it or not I care about what happens to you and the team. I can't…I can't leave until I know that everyone's okay."

Mia unlocked the house door after I had tossed her the keys and walked inside, running a hand through her hair. "Vince isn't in good shape," she said back at last. "He was airlifted to the hospital."

Rikki stopped dead in her track in the entry way of the house. When Mia noticed the younger girl wasn't following her anymore she turned to see why. Noticing the panicked look on her face, Mia continued the story, "They say he's lost a lot of blood, but they should be able to get him to the hospital on time. Letty…" Rikki sat down on the stairs leading to the upper level of the house as Mia explained what had happened. "We still haven't heard from Jesse."

Rikki nodded her head when Mia said that. Letting her know she was listening, "God, why did it have to turn out like this? I told Bri to back off. I told him…"

She stopped speaking when she heard someone pull into the driveway. Both girls looked at each other and ran outside to see Dom and Brian facing each other with guns in their hands.

"Dom, would you knock it off, it's over, please!"

Rikki left Mia on the porch as she approached her brother. Dom looked at Brian with a torn expression on his face. He wanted to do what his sister had asked but, "It's Jesse. I've got to find him before they do. I'm all the kid's got!"

Rikki put a hand on Brian's arm, hoping he'd lower the gun. "Come on Bri, we've fucked things up enough as it is."

Before Brian could give anyone an answer, Jesse and the Jetta pulled up alongside the yard. Dom and Brian both lowered their weapons and Rikki ran over to the car before the boy could even step out of it. The minute he stepped outside she wrapped her arms around him, glad he was home and safe.

"God, I'm so sorry," he immediately said. "Dom, you've gotta help me. I panicked. I don't know what to do. You've gotta help me…" Jesse stopped speaking and Rikki's eyes went wide as she heard the familiar sound of motorbikes heading their way.

"Oh fuck no," Rikki whispered more to herself as she hugged Jesse tighter to herself and she felt him do the same to her.

"Rik, Jesse, get down," Brian yelled at them as shots were fired.

Neither of them had time to do so. It was as if time went by in slow motion. All Rikki could feel was pain as she and Jesse fell down to the ground. She couldn't register anything around her as the burning sensation in her shoulder blade and collarbone intensified.

"It went through both of them," she head someone say, "Mia, call 911!"

Rikki's vision was blurred by tears as she opened her eyes and looked over at Jesse who seemed to be in as much pain as she was. With her right arm she reached out for Jesse's hand and gave it a small squeeze before she blacked out because of the pain.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I do understand that this is rather predictable. It has to be in order for my sequel plans for 2 Fast 2 Furious. Really, its almost sick how predictable this is. But alas, here it is. The last chapter to Tangled In This Web. It all feels so rushed to me since the movie itself feels rushed to me. All of this stuff happens in the span of one month even though the team had been pulling the job for about three. At any rate, I hope you enjoy the final chapter. I'm not too sure when I'll have a sequel up, but I will post on Author's Note as a "chapter 15" (even though that's not technically allowed) to let those interested know when I have it up.

Again, enjoy. Thank you to everyone who stuck with me. A lost a lot of people due to my lack of writing and updating skills. So thank you to all of those who added me to an alert or favorites list and/or reviewed. It means a lot to me. This chapter is for you beautiful people :)

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Tangled In This Web – Chapter 14

Rikki woke up in a hospital bed, alone. She didn't even have another patient in the room with her which she found rather odd. Another thing she found odd was when allowed to leave, Mia was the one to pick her up.

"Where's Brian," Rikki asked as the girl helped her into a shirt.

Mia sighed, "I don't know," she replied. "We haven't seen him since that day."

Rikki looked at her friend in surprise. "What happened exactly?"

Mia shook her head, not wanting to explain it all in a public place where they could be overheard. "I'll tell you when we get back to the house."

Rikki nodded her understanding and both girls left the hospital after signing the necessary papers. Getting into the car, Rikki noticed that they were not in Mia's but rather Dom's RX-7.

The ride to the team's house was rather quiet. There was no music or radio going in the background like she was used to and really Rikki was thankful for it. It would remind her of Brian and if what Mia said had any indication she wasn't going to be seeing her brother any time soon.

Once at the house both girls entered the house as quickly as they could. Rikki hated having to be so mindful of the sling on her arm, but all she really cared about right now was finding out what happened. Her mind went blank however when she entered the house. Laid out on the couch, his arm also in a sling, was Jesse.

"Welcome home," he said with a smile as if she had just come back from a long trip.

Rikki smiled back at the boy in front of her, and after giving him a kiss punched his good shoulder. "That's for scaring the shit outta me," she snapped at him. "You do that again and I swear I'll kick your ass."

Jesse only smiled and kissed the top of his girlfriend's head. "You're so cute when you're angry."

This only left Rikki more frustrated as she sat down in an armchair. She sure didn't feel very cute! Now she turned her attention back to Mia. "So, what happened after Tran showed up," she asked awkwardly.

Mia explained how Brian and Dom had chased after Tran and his cousin Lance. Brian had shot Tran who had died before the ambulance had even arrived on scene. His cousin Lance however had been driven off the road by Dom. No one has heard from the Asian since.

As for Dom and Brian no one was all too sure what had happened to them. All Mia knew for sure was that Dom had not been brought in by the police. They assumed that both boys were on the run.

Rikki sighed and gently leaned back into the chair. "What about Vince and the others?"

"Leon and Letty left right after dropping us off here at the house. Dom had planned on meeting up with them later. Maybe that's what they did."

"And Vince?"

Jesse responded this time, "Hasn't woken up yet. They still have him in ICU. He lost a lot of blood, Rik. The doctors say he'll wake up when his body has dealt with everything."

Rikki nodded her head. "Are the police pressing charges?"

Mia shrugged, "Jesse's been out for a few days and they haven't shown up yet. It's been a week since everything happened. We think they're focusing on Dom."

"They always were obsessed with him," Rikki said back in agreement, "Constantly bugging Bri to let them move in on him. He didn't want to believe you guys were involved with the trucks."

"What about you?"

Rikki shook her head. "I didn't believe it could be you. Jesse was with me on one of the nights of the heists…They wanted me to help them, since they figured I was so close to you guys," her anger on the subject returned, "I couldn't believe they would ask me while I was here. I told them I wasn't getting involved. I wanted nothing to do with it…And now the team's broken because we had to come in…"

Jesse shook his head. "We were supposed to stop weeks ago," he told her, "We got so caught up in the idea that we could keep getting away with it…"

"It was bound to get out of control," Mia finished. All that mattered right now though was that it was over. They were left to pick up the pieces, but together they could make it through.

Once Vince was stable and out of the hospital, Jesse began to work on fixing up the Jetta. Once that was done they all planned to go out in search of Leon and Letty. Hopefully they could find Dom there with them. If not, they would take up the search once more.

No matter what happened in the past they were a family and family sticks together whether you want them to or not. It was for this reason that Rikki felt rather conflicted. She wanted what Jesse had to offer her. A family with him and the others sounded like heaven to her, even if things wouldn't be the same as they had been before. Who wants picture perfect anyway?

Then there was Brian, her brother. He had always taken care of her in every situation that she encountered. He had taken care of her, protected her. He had continued to do so in a way, by leaving her here in the care of Mia. She knew he had also wanted to make Mia a part of their own little twisted up family.

In the end Rikki had sent him a text message, hoping he'd receive it. She had let him know that she was okay and that after finding the others she would head out to find him.

Closing her cell phone Rikki turned her attention back to Jesse. He was standing in front of the Jetta, looking at her innards as he wiped the grease off his hands with a rag.

"Ready to head inside for the night," Rikki asked him as she stood and joined him.

Jesse wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her temple. "There's still a lot of work left," he told her.

Rikki nodded her head, knowing he wasn't only talking about the Jetta. Life for everyone right now was rather uncertain. Who knew when they would meet up with everyone again, if they would even meet up with them…?

"Come on, let's go inside and get you a shower," she said back. "After dinner I'll give you a massage before bed."

Jesse closed the hood of his father's car before turning to face her. "Will you be joining me in the shower," he asked cheekily.

Rikki pretended to think it over. "I don't know," she replied playfully, "Yu spend so much time working on the Jetta I'm beginning to wonder which you care for more."

Jesse brought Rikki close to him and whispered so his lips brushed against her ear, "Then I'll just have to show you, won't I?"

Rikki bit back a giggle as she wrapped her arms around Jesse's neck and he picked her up. She knew that the future wasn't really too concrete for any of them. Who really knew where they'd end up? All Rikki cared about right now was the present. She'd get by one day at a time. Whatever life threw at her she could deal with, as long as she had the people she cared about by her side.

FIN


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